They moved through the sleeping settlement like shadows, Sarhita leading him along paths that avoided the night watch patrols. She didn't want her father to know that they were going out.
The desert air was blessedly cool at this hour, a relief after the day's oppressive heat. Stars blazed overhead in impossible profusion, the seven moons hung on the horizon far in the distance, and other worlds slowly hovered in the empty space.
"Where are we going?" Jorghan asked as they moved beyond the settlement's boundaries, heading into the rocky terrain that bordered the Jaruna River.
"To a place where I spend most of my time," Sarhita replied, her pace steady and sure despite the darkness.
"I was tracking a sand leopard that had been raiding our livestock. The hunt took me farther from home than I'd ever gone, into territory we'd always considered empty wasteland. And I found... well, you'll see."
